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Garden Fresh Gourmet Salsa (Photo credit: nickgraywfu)

Prior to its recently embarrassing period of decay, the Paris of the Midwest represented just the opposite: for decades, Detroit’s powerful heartbeat determined the nation’s innovation pulse. By stagnating, Detroit’s muscle found itself disrupted and Detroit entered a dark period chock full of corruption, greed, tunnel-vision, and crime. Revitalizing a carcass of what once was a thriving city has been nothing short of insurmountable, but incredibly, it’s happening anyway.

This reclaimed city from within, Detroit 2.0, has taken shape thanks in large part to a few powerful, dedicated individuals working tirelessly. People across the nation can recognize these names: Mayor Dave Bing, the man committed to rebooting the city’s woeful financial structure, Dan Gilbert (my friend and partner at Detroit Venture Partners), the champion behind 3 million refurbished square feet of office space encouraging a comprehensive downtown lifestyle, and Mike Ilitch, owner of two downtown sports teams and world-renowned pizza chain, bringing millions of people into the city annually for sporting events. So what about the rest of our city? These powerhouses will be responsible for billions in revenue, but a city only truly thrives with “little guys” on board as game-changers too. I’m not Pollyanna here – there’s serious problems that won’t go away without monumental effort in numerous fields, but people are taking steps to fix issues affecting all of us – and lessons they’re teaching us here are applicable elsewhere.

Andy Didorosi of The Detroit Bus Company: Instead of whining, pointing fingers and carrying on about Detroit’s lack of mass transportation, a 25-year-old entrepreneur started a company to connect neighborhoods. His bio-diesel powered bus service operates on Friday and Saturday nights from 6 pm until 2 am. For $5, riders can get on and off both lines interchangeably all night, drink in hand. Even more compelling is DBC’s “We Ride” program: for every seat purchased, they’ll provide another Detroiter in need a free ride to work. As it stands, thousands of people don’t have a reliable, affordable way to get to work, so this company offers a homegrown solution for people to keep their jobs, and their dignity in getting there.

Lesson Learned: There’s always a better way to connect the dots, even those on a map.

Pamela Good of Beyond Basics: According to recent findings from the Detroit Regional Workforce Fund, 47 percent of adults in Detroit are functionally illiterate. This means upwards of 200,000 residents cannot read, but Ms. Good’s organization works with one person at a time. Beyond Basics is a school-centered program that brings targeted reading, writing and other literacy programs to students; typically participants read at grade level after six weeks of intensive, individualized tutoring. Ultimately the goal is to move “beyond the basics,” bringing hope and encouragement to disadvantaged kids through literacy.

Lesson Learned: Changing even one person’s destiny makes a world of difference.

Greg Schwartz of UpTo: (full disclosure: Detroit Venture Partners is a shareholder in UpTo) As we’ve come to know utilitarian tools, they’re all boring. However, Greg has proved functionality doesn’t need to sacrifice the user’s experience. Our day-to-day tools can be changed for the better, with a lot of grit, determination, and advanced planning. His company developed UpTo, a social calendar app that allows people to share what they’re “up to” and discover what’s coming. More importantly than what he does, Greg’s presence in Detroit is indicative of the full-fledged “Detroit 2.0” movement, characterized by innovation and technology emerging from within the city center. He was living in New York and returned to build his company here – and he’s not alone.

Lesson Learned: When the status quo isn’t sufficient, fresh perspectives demand a new way of life.

Dave Zilko of Garden Fresh Gourmet: Detroit is known as a manufacturing powerhouse – in one industry. However, in order for the city and region to succeed, diversification is crucial. A $100M company has been a key ingredient (pardon the pun) in this variegated approach toward resurgence, becoming the market leader for fresh salsa nationwide. Garden Fresh Gourmet started with a 5-gallon bucket in the back of a failing restaurant, and hasn’t looked back. Zilko’s individual meetings with distributors nationwide has helped the brand’s recognition improve, and its profits to soar. The manufacturing process is all completed in southwestern Michigan, and Garden Fresh prides itself on maintaining quality (and tastiness) through scale. They give back to the next wave of food entrepreneurs in the community, for which there’s no shortage; urban farming and causal marketing have led to an explosion of new products launching from this area.